The North Texas Municipal Water District, which runs the regional landfill in Melissa, wants the 2027 Legislature to pour new money into the state's water project fund, require data centers to disclose how much water they expect to use and make utility districts that serve new development show they have the water and sewer capacity to do it.
Those are among the positions in a four-page Legislative Positions Statement that sits on the consent agenda for the district board's Thursday afternoon meeting in Wylie. Once adopted, the document guides district staff, lobbyists and lawyers during the session that begins in January. The board's Legislative Committee reviewed it Oct. 7.
The district operates the 121 Regional Disposal Facility, a landfill in Melissa, and Melissa is one of six cities in its solid waste system, along with Allen, Frisco, McKinney, Plano and Richardson, according to the district.
What the district is asking for
- State money for big water projects. The statement says the cost of major supply projects increasingly exceeds what local customers can reasonably pay and asks for substantial direct state investment. It also asks lawmakers not to pass bills aimed at blocking individual projects already in the State Water Plan.
- Refilling SWIFT. The State Water Implementation Fund for Texas started in 2013 with $2 billion, and the district says demand now outstrips it. It backs a significant recapitalization, including near-term money to keep projects moving until the dedicated revenue lawmakers and voters approved in 2025 starts arriving in 2028.
- Data center water use. The district supports requiring data centers to report expected and actual water use to their water providers, the Texas Water Development Board and the Public Utility Commission, and keeping the power of water providers to decide whether enough water and infrastructure exist.
- Utility districts. It wants municipal utility districts and other special districts that provide water or sewer service to show they have supply and treatment capacity, which the district says would help its member and customer cities evaluate serving development outside city limits.
- Sewer plants. Where an existing city or regional system can serve new development, the district says that system should generally be used instead of a new treatment plant, with state regulators keeping authority to weigh those cases.
The statement also supports a narrower legal definition of conflicts between regional water plans, backs stronger conservation laws as the district expects its service area population to double over 50 years, and says the district will oppose bills that would limit public agencies' ability to lobby the Legislature. On solid waste, it commits only to monitoring bills for unfunded mandates and new rules.
